“The thing to do with data is to let it out for everyone to have it.”
–William G. Noel (1965 – 2024), from “Revealing the Lost Codex of Archimedes” TEDxSummit, April 2012
The William G. Noel Eureka Fund honors the legacy of one of the world’s great manuscript scholars and powerful advocates of unfettered access to cultural heritage in its handwritten forms. More than anyone else, Will Noel understood the promise of open access for manuscript data to spark new and exciting discoveries about the world’s rich and varied cultural heritages and intellectual traditions. Through his visionary leadership of the Archimedes Palimpsest Project, and as the founding Director of the Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies, Will challenged and overcame conventional and restrictive approaches to data management through radical policies of open access and free use of manuscript data, opening up a wide range of possibilities for new discoveries and insights into the past.
The William G. Noel Eureka Fund Committee, in partnership with Digital Scriptorium, invites DS member institutions to submit proposals for inaugural grants from the fund. The grants will award up to seven projects with a maximum funding amount of $5000 each for single institutions and $7500 for two or more institutions in collaborative proposals.
The primary objective of these grants is to make possible those “Eureka” moments of discovery that Will so loved by helping DS member institutions enrich and share manuscript data related to their collections. The fund supports projects that will lead to innovative cataloging and digitization practices, the creation of new manuscript descriptions, the education and training of a new generation of librarians, curators, and scholars in the curation of digital manuscript data, and the dissemination of new research. Research results will be incorporated into institutional records that can then be contributed to or refreshed in the DS Catalog to be shared with the wider DS community of scholars, students, and researchers. We especially encourage projects that include the development of training resources for undergraduate or graduate students in manuscript description as a part of the proposal. Collaborative proposals among member institutions are also encouraged.
To apply:
Applications must be submitted by the member institution on behalf of projects proposed by staff or faculty at those institutions and signed by the DS member representative of the applying institution.
Applications are due on January 5, 2026. This year’s call covers two cycles: a short-term cycle for ready-to-go projects and a long-term cycle for those projects that need more development time. Grants with a start date prior to June 30, 2026, are to be completed by the end of December 2026. Grants with a start date between July 1 and December 31, 2026, are to be completed by the end of August 2027. Only one project will be awarded per DS member institution per cycle.
Suggested Project Ideas:
- Small-scale digitization and description projects
- Courses or workshops intended to identify, describe, and unite dispersed collections and fragments through enhanced metadata
- Developing courses or replicable pilot projects focusing on describing un- or undercataloged member collections while teaching manuscript description practices, standards, and research at the undergraduate or graduate level
- Develop a conference focusing on the description of your collection’s or collections’ manuscripts
- Tuition support for member staff to take courses that teach manuscript research skills, such as those offered at Rare Book School
Research outputs must include new or enhanced manuscript records for contribution to the DS Catalog. Other outputs can include public presentations, publications, blog posts, pilot project models, or other forms of dissemination.
Eligible expenses include: staff time buy-out, course tuition, consultant fees, honoraria, travel expenses to member collections, digital photography and processing.
Ineligible expenses include: overhead and indirect costs, equipment, DS membership fees, software development, subscriptions, data hosting services, supplies, acquisitions.
*For items not included in the above lists, please contact us at [email protected] to confirm eligibility of costs.
Project Results: Outputs must include at minimum new or enhanced manuscript records for contribution to the DS Catalog. Other outputs can include public presentations, publications, blog posts, pilot project models, or other forms of dissemination.
Grant Requirements: Awardees will be required to submit reports upon completion of the project detailing outcomes and to present the results of their projects at the Digital Scriptorium Annual Meeting in September 2026 or 2027, depending on project completion dates.
Questions? Please contact us at [email protected] if you would like to discuss the eligibility of a project or a budget item or if you have any other questions about the application process.